Irvington Truck Washing

On June 18, 2007 Riverkeeper was contacted by Bill Gerlach, at Waterkeeper Alliance, with a report that he had seen Village of Irvington Department of Public Works personnel washing their garbage trucks and letting the water run into a nearby storm drain. Bill had seen this practice occurring on a regular basis with milky-brown wash water running into the storm drain. Riverkeeper began an investigation, spoke with village officials, and filed a complaint with Westchester County Police Director of Environmental Security Ron Gatto. Acting on our report Director Gatto observed the garbage truck washing operation in action and issued the village a summons for polluting county waters. The village is due in court on November 19th to answer the misdemeanor charge which carries a maximum $1,000 penalty.